Getting Down to Earth

Category Archives: Recipes

I love a good collaboration with like-minded folks, especially when it combines comraderie, creativity and sustainability. But throw in some unabashedly poor taste jokes and boom, it’s a party. Yup, a Sausage Party!

My talented friend, Belinda, who hand-crafts the most beautifully artful all-natural soaps as her side gig (@loveyoursuds) and I were looking for a way to collaborate our like-minded interests. We had recently reconnected (having worked together many years ago), discovered we lived very near each other, and met up to make a great “trade” – some of her soap plus a formerly loved green hoody for some of our deer sausages and 5 lbs of concord grapes from my yard! Belinda’s boyfriend loved the sausages, and we were looking for an opportunity for our partners to meet socially, so we lined up a date for, you guessed it, a sausage party!

Because my husband is a hunter, we have to credit him for the main ingredient, the meat! I pre-thawed 7lbs of ground deer, 2 lbs of beef (from our Langley family farm source, Capko Farms) and 1lb of elk, and I purchased 5lbs of pork fat and the sausage casings from our local meat shop (Beefway Meats). Belinda had made sausage before, so she suggested a recipe, and managed to borrow a sausage stuffer from a friend, while we hauled out our hand-me-down 1970’s meat grinder that Stewart had been dying to use since ensconcing it from his parents’ garage last year. A few spices and some onion, and we were ready to go!

Because it was a social gathering too, it was important that we enjoy some fun drinks and eats, so I put together a charcuterie plate and red wine, and Belinda and Ken brought homemade pizza and craft beer from the new Luppolo brewery– yum!

We sanitized the island counter so we could all get in on the mixing right on the counter, and decided to make separate batches for the deer, elk and beef, with slight variations to the recipe for each (add sun dried tomatoes, add red pepper flakes, etc.). Some of us mixed while others washed and got the grinder and attachments ready.

This grinder is a relic and a bit special in its own right, as Stewart’s father, who passed away last fall, used it to make his own sausages (and grind all his meat) at least thirty years ago. Its fire engine red exterior complemented the bright yellow apron (advertising French mustard) that was still in the box. Hence, we all had to don aprons to get in on the fun. Mine was a particularly cheesy Christmas bear apron (It’s February).

From left: Ken, Belinda, me, Stewart

Next, we ground the fat and mixed it into the seasoned meat mixture (note: wild meat has very little fat so requires some extra for taste and juiciness). I almost didn’t post this photo, as it looks a little gross, but I figure if you’re still reading, you can’t be too put off at this point. I won’t however post the video we took of grinding the fat, as that was even a little much for the hunter among us. Eek.

We did fry up a bit of the mixture for a taste test, and all agreed it was tasty!
Then, once the sausage stuffing attachment was fitted on the grinder, Belinda gave a demonstration how to use it, and that’s when most of the inappropriate jokes began, in front of our teenage daughter, who suddenly became interested in helping us, and hey, what better way to also spend some time with your kid on her own accord.

The stuffing ensued, and all hands were on deck to try to get the sausages a consistent length and thickness (roughly 6″) without overwhelming Belinda, who was feeding the casings. This we just had to get on video.

Once we had a few pounds prepared, I started packaging them, simply, with freezer paper, a scale to get the packages an even weight (1lb each) and some masking tape.

We ended up with 7lbs per couple, plus one for the friend.
All in all a great, fun experience which we plan to do again with new and more daring recipes, as soon as our own sausage stuffer from Amazon shows up!

If you’d like more details or have questions, leave us a comment below. Thanks!

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It’s taken me 4 years to get my jelly making method down pat from experimenting with different recipes (no single source seemed to give ALL the instructions), so I wanted to save others the time, effort and hassle of doing the same! And in usual GND style, I’ll try to make it as simple as possible.

Let’s be clear – this is a labour of love. You could fairly easily buy grape jelly. If I added up the cost of materials and the time it takes to harvest, de-stem, bag, weigh, wash, blend, sieve, wait, strain, pour, stir, boil and clean up after, my jelly would be worth about $100 a jar at my current consulting rates. 😉 But we make jelly. We make it because we have 25-30lbs of grapes growing in our yard every year, because our family loves it, and because I can control exactly what (and how much sugar) goes into it. OK, as long you’re still with me, let’s begin (and I’d read the whole post first to make sure)!

What you’ll need:Grapes – we have small Concord (purple) grapes, and they have large seeds, so they are essentially useless to eat as a snack and are somewhat difficult to process. If you have seedless grapes (and/or a good juicer), you can skip at least step 4. This is the most important step to avoid insanity from small seeded grapes!

5 lbs of grapes will give you roughly 5 cups of juice and 5 small (8 oz/250ml) jars of jelly. You can only process 5 jars at a time, so work with 5 lb batches.

Blender or juicer

Sieve

Cheese cloth or nut milk bag (I bought one of these online for $3 and it’s been great, as it’s reusable)

A few medium sized bowls

Large pot (for making the jelly recipe)

Canning equipment (you can get this all together as a kit, which I recommend – includes jar gripper, jar lid lifter, funnel, etc.)

Jars with flat lids and tops

Pectin. I REALLY like Pomona’s low sugar pectin because a) you don’t have to shell out for 7 cups of sugar for every 5 jars (!), and b) you’re not eating 7 cups of sugar! It’s gotten more expensive in the past few years, but I still prefer it to the regular stuff. You can make any amount of sweetness you want, and grapes are really sweet on their own.

Lemon juice (1/4 cup)

Sugar (up to 2 cups)

If you are harvesting your own, sit with a bucket between your legs, a pair of gloves and a bowl and gently pull the grapes off the stems. This is a great family activity for kids to earn their keep. 😉 We wear gloves because we seem to get a rash if we don’t. I’m guessing this is similar to the allergic stuffy nose feeling I get from drinking too much red wine. 😉

2. If you’re making jelly right away, you can leave them unfrozen in the fridge for a few days, but freezing them in large Ziploc bags (5lbs fits very nicely in a bag) works too.

3. If frozen, thaw grapes in their bags in a bowl of hot water in the sink.

4. Blend a small portion (about 2 cups) on low to medium in your blender for about 10 seconds just to get things moving and start to remove the seeds but not to blend them up (yuck).

5. Put your sieve over a bowl and pour the grape mixture in. The sieve will catch the skins and seeds and the juice will drip into the bowl. To get more juice out of the fruit, pour it through the cheese cloth or nut milk bag – you can let it drip into another bowl, but I get sick of waiting so I squeeze it through and it turns out fine. This is the part of jelly making I just couldn’t get my head around because the sludge/juice would stop dripping through and it could literally take DAYS for the juice to drop through the cheese cloth. So I squeeze it! You could absolutely use a juicer for parts 4 & 5, but I can’t justify buying one just to make grape juice once a year. Repeat until done. ***2017 update: borrowed a juicer from a friend and it changed my jelly making life! Yay!***

6. For best results, let your bowl of grape juice sit in the fridge overnight, and the next day, pull the “foam” off the top with a spoon, then squeeze it through your cheese cloth/bag again.

7. Sterilize your jars, tops and lids – I just do this all together in the canning pot and boil them for 10 minutes before letting them sit waiting for me while I prepare the jelly recipe.

8. Measure 5 cups juice into the large pot (any leftovers can be mixed half and half with water or other drinks – yum!). Add lemon juice (plus calcium water if using Pomona’s pectin – the instructions are inside the box, so I won’t repeat them here, but it’s easy). Stir and bring to boil. While it’s heating up, measure 5 tsp pectin into a bowl with 1/4 cup sugar and mix. Measure the rest of your sugar into another bowl.

9. Pull the jars and lids out of the pot and set them on a tea towel, spaced apart as this is where you’ll be filling the jars.

9. Once the juice boils, add the pectic/sugar mixture and stir like crazy for 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin, then add the rest of the sugar and stir to dissolve. I used to test the consistency of my jelly at this point, but using the amounts and method above, I don’t seem to need to do this anymore, and it saves time and anxiety.

10. Pour the jelly into the jars, but leave 1/4″ at the top (important). You need to keep the jar edges clean (and I never reuse the flat lids). You can use the funnel but I just find this to be more equipment and mess – just pour carefully with oven mitts on because everything is hot.

11. This is where the canning accessories from the kit come in handy. Use the magnetic lid lifter to set the lids on top of the jars and screw on the tops. Then use the jar gripper to put them in the canner with the wire rack in. Lower the jars down and add more water on top of them if needed to cover them by at least an inch, and wait for the water to boil.

12. Boil hard for 10 minutes (there’s all sorts of timing rules to ensure your jelly doesn’t go bad, but I just boil it for 2 minutes longer to take care of any variables).

13. Clean up while boiling and make sure your tea towel is in a place that can be left undisrupted for a day.

14. Use the jar gripper to lift the jars out without disrupting them too much. Place on tea towel, and just leave them (for 24 hours)! You’ll be tempted to tilt them and try to see the jelly, but don’t . Usually the lids will make a popping sound as soon as I pull them out of the canner, indicating they’ve sealed. If they don’t, don’t worry, but you’ll need to check they are sealed by pressing lightly on them after the 24 hours to ensure they don’t pop up and down. Otherwise, you’ll need to redo the canning process…or eat it right away.

Phew. I know, it’s a lot of steps, and I always question whether it’s worth it, but hey, the grapes are free, it’s a great family activity, and the end product is fantastic on toast, pancakes, crackers, etc. or usually well received as a unique gift. Enjoy, and let me know if you have any questions or comments!

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While I have been harvesting veggies from the garden since June, I plant most of it to harvest mid-August and beyond. This might be a little later than most, but we are usually away for the first two weeks of August, so when I return, there is a bounty awaiting me. In fact, this blog was born out of my excitement for the seemingly endless supply of fresh produce I discovered upon returning home this time last year.

This is my (three plant) tomato garden ready to harvest. I hoisted up the runaway vines with sticks and strips of fabric to get them off the ground (making the soil easier to water without getting the leaves wet). So Day 1 back in the city, I set about feeding myself almost solely from my yard, and the first thing I made was a delicious Tomato salad with the fresh, juicy, sweet tomatoes and fragrant basil that ripened to perfection while I was away.
My motto is to keep it simple, so most of my day-to-day recipes contain about 5 ingredients or less, which you can literally pluck and throw together in minutes. Here’s my favourite that I’ve been enjoying variations on every few days.

What you’ll need:
As many cherry or grape tomatoes, halved, as you like (as you can see, my recipes are very specific. This was about a pint).

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I said I was going to regularly post recipes featuring a veggie you can easily grow yourself, so here we go! As I’ve mentioned before, kale is one of my favourite veggies to grow! But when my neighbour friend said she was bringing over her Killer Kale Salad to round out our Friday night dinner get together (usually pizza and copious amounts of wine after which we stumble home across the street), I admit I was skeptical.

I have grown to like kale in some forms, but we had four hungry kids to feed as well, and I could anticipate the “ew gross” looks or at least the polite “no thank you’s”. But there is a reason why she calls it her Killer Kale Salad – don’t take my word for it, just make it and you’ll see! It’s really easy and fast, and you can make it ahead of time and leave it in the fridge for 24 hours if you like. Your guests or family will never know how simple it was.

Ingredients:
Juice of 1 lemon – no measuring required – just squeeze it in!
1/2 shallot, finely chopped – I use a whole small shallot
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp kosher salt (really, any salt will do, but I keep coarse Himalayan pink salt on hand – much healthier than table salt = reduced “mommy guilt”.
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Wisk this stuff together in a bowl.
2 bunches kale – remove the stems and pull apart or chop the leaves
3 tbsp olive oil – MASSAGE the kale (and this is the key to the recipe I was told) with the oil, squeezing it so you are breaking it up and softening it. Give some love to the kale – it’ll give back . 😉 Add the stuff from the bowl to the kale and refrigerate for up to 1 day but for at least 1 hour.

Mountain of kale-y goodness

Last minute stuff: 1/3 cup sliced almonds 8 dates, pitted and chopped 2-1/2 oz. parmesan (if you don’t have a scale, this is close enough to 1/2 cup so no need to weigh it!) In a pan, toast almonds over medium heat, tossing constantly, about 1-2 minutes. Add the almonds, dates and parmesan to the kale and serve! The recipe takes me about 20 minutes total (I can’t stand it when recipes claim to take half the time they actually take! We don’t all have a studio kitchen with helpers on hand 24/7!), and while it’s a little longer than some of my other super fast recipes will be (read: throw raw, fresh cut veggies on your plate ;-), the time can be broken up over two days so it’s mere minutes a day. And so worth it. Thank you Sonya!
In the comments, I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe. I’m going to make it now for my weekend get togethers!